Lucy's Breakdown
by CountessEricka
Summary: After losing her job at the AVL, Lucy suffers from the lack of crime-fighting and the anxieties of being a terrible mother. Gru attempts to convince her otherwise, leading to unexpected conversations and a secret that wasn't supposed to be known...or hidden in the first place. (An alternate scene idea for DM3).


_This is a brief what-if ficlet that explores another way the plot of Despicable Me 3 could've been driven. The story is heavily inspired by Guy Bareli's alternate storyboard named 'Lucy's Breakdown' that I gave my own little twist to. I highly suggest you'd check it out!_

* * *

Through the peephole between the blanket, Lucy stared at the pitch-black television screen. Almost like staring into an abyss...of her knowledge in parenting.

Sighing, Lucy smooshed her cheek against the pillow. All signs of her optimism and quirkiness had vanished in the past few days; she had an idea as to why. Losing her job wasn't the most intelligent idea, even if she swore to stay by her husband's side. Not that she regretted defending him. Of course, she couldn't fight villainy without her partner - they were Grucy! Saving the world as a lone wolf seemed pretty...lonely.

However, the pro-active side of her mind yearned for more action. If that be punching or kicking a bad guy, or maybe saving a crowd of civilians from danger.

She at least _tried _to spare her mind the sheer boredom of doing absolutely nothing during the day, by spending time with her darling daughters. That, as expected, made her heart swell ten-times more just by talking to the adorable girls. The Cheese Festival was...eventful, so to speak. Lucy adored the scenery, the culture, and of course, the music. Yet, losing two of her daughters and accidentally getting Margo engaged to a random boy from the town wasn't part of the plan.

Now, Edith and Agnes were planning on how to find a unicorn - more Agnes - whilst Margo avoided Lucy after the embarrassing incident. She felt like the worst Mom in the world.

As for Gru, she didn't feel like bothering him with parenting advice. She wanted him to spend time with his twin brother, although it had made her feel pretty lonely.

And speaking of the devil...

"Lucy, I'm back!" Gru called into the hallway. The door shut, making Lucy sink further within the blanket cave.

His footsteps drew closer. Gru stuck his head into each room, before double-taking inside the main room. That familiar red hair that he adored poked out of the blanket, making him frown in concern.

"Uh, Lucy?" Gru tilted his head, strolling towards his wife. "Are you okay?"

Pulling the corner of the blanket away from her face, Lucy faced her husband with a similar expression. She forced a smile, once again hiding behind the cover. "Yeah...totally fine. Just peachy. Why do you ask?"

"Because...you're on the couch wearing your pajamas, hiding inside a blanket in the afternoon," Gru smirked. However, when he failed to attract a laugh from his wife, Gru kneeled in front of her, resting a hand on her waist. "C'mon, something's up. I'm your husband, I can tell when my darling isn't happy."

His cheesy comment made her release a brief chuckle. Lucy emerged from the blankets once again, releasing a huge sigh. "I'm just wallowing in the fact that I'm literally the worst mother in the world."

Gru blinked. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me."

Gru pouted, laying a hand on her covered leg. "Lucy, my mother separated me from Dru when I was born so I wouldn't know that he existed."

There was a short pause. Lucy pondered for a moment, realising that maybe she over-reacted a tiny bit.

She peeked her head out of the blanket and said, "...Okay, maybe the _second_ worst mother in the world," before diving back under.

Shaking his head, Gru pulled the blanket away from Lucy's form. It broke his heart to witness her so sullen, especially over something that he thought she was fantastic at doing. He grasped her hands, encouraging her to listen. "Lucy, you're not a bad Mom. Do you know how many...wait, what's this?"

He spotted a cylinder can from the table, reading the words _Whipped Cream_. Lucy grasped it and quickly hid it underneath the blanket.

"You won't solve all of your problems with whipped cream," Gru smirked, holding out his palm for the can.

"Oh, yeah? Try me," Lucy replied, squirting a small amount into her mouth.

"Do you know how many times the girls have told you that they love you?" Gru smoothed his thumb over her palm, talking in a soothing voice. "How many times they have told _me_? I've seen you with them, and you are _perfect_."

Lucy struggled to believe him as cried, "Well, tell that to the parenting books! According to them, I'm already a failure."

"Parenting...what?" Gru glanced to where Lucy pointed, laying his eyes upon a stack of books. He facepalmed, remembering that he advised that she stayed away from them. They were absolutely useless.

Exhaling sharply, Gru snatched a book and held it in the air. "You wanna know what I learned from these?"

He attempted to rip the pages in one pull, however achieved nothing. "Agh...stupid paperbacks, they used to rip easier years ago..." Gru continued, only managed to rip single pages.

Sighing in defeat, he threw the book over his shoulder and returned to Lucy's side. "Listen, I'm telling the truth. You're the best Mom the girls could ever wish for."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Like losing two of them and getting Margo engaged is being the best Mom."

"Wait...Margo is _engaged_?" Gru cried, staring at Lucy as if she'd just confessed to murder.

Lucy stared back, eyes wide. Goddamnit, she shouldn't have said that. She brought the whipped cream can towards her mouth, prepared to take another swig, before Gru grabbed her hands.

"I mean...look, things happen, okay? Though, maybe not stuff like _that,_" Gru winced, placing the can back onto the table. Lucy had hunched her shoulders, but Gru continued, "well, think about it like this. Being a parent is difficult, yes, but in my eyes, we're a great team. Even better, we have the _best _daughters in the world to raise. They never cause trouble, they're always well-behaved, and the only problems we actually have to face is when they start _dating._"

Gru glared at the wall ahead, thinking about the horror of his little kittens dating. Lucy chuckled, understanding his feeling.

"Well, you gotta let them have their freedom at some point," Lucy noted, "you'd feel the same if my parents were around and stopped you from dating me."

Gru blushed, "That's different, we're adults."

Lucy winked. "The girls will be too, you gotta accept that."

"At least we both have experienced the same problems," Gru shrugged. "But, I guess their ages are easier, right? Imagine raising a _baby, _goodness, we'd be a mess."

Ironically, there was a pregnant pause. Gru pursed his lips after his statement, staring back at Lucy who raised her brows in surprise.

In the end, Lucy chuckled nervously as she rubbed her forearm. "Yeah...I couldn't imagine myself being pregnant for nine months."

Gru tilted his head, internally disappointed. "You couldn't?"

Lucy blinked. "Can you?"

Gru stammered, "I...might've had one or two thoughts."

"Oh, yeah, totally!" Lucy replied, a little too loud. "Me too, but I mean, that's normal, right?"

"Totally normal!" Gru beamed, also louder than he intended.

She nodded, "It'd be weird to not think about that sorta thing."

"Of course, because we're married."

"Yeah, but the girls are perfect!"

"Definitely."

"Yeah."

"One-hundred percent."

They nodded in unison, laughing nervously. Yet, something still lingered. Their eyes connected from time to time between the silence.

Gru cocked his brow. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

"Oh! No, no," Lucy chuckled, before inhaling and hunching her shoulders. "Would you ever want to have...?"

Gru opened his mouth, yet closed it once again. Then, a heartfelt smile spread across his face. He cupped her cheeks, stroking her face gently. "Well, to be truthful...I wouldn't mind having a baby with you. A little Lucy running around would be endearing."

Lucy felt her heart jolt. If she thought that nothing would be cuter than their wedding vows, then she'd certainly be wrong at that moment. So, she relaxed into his palms and admitted, "Me too. I mean, obviously when we're ready."

"Yeah!" Gru beamed, "We want to focus on raising the girls first."

Lucy nodded. "Totally."

They gazed at each other for a long moment, until Gru placed a sweet kiss on her lips. Something that Lucy craved as she sighed against his lips. She'd always be the one boosting his confidence; now her husband achieved the same for her.

Once they broke away, Gru smiled at his wife in pure content. "See? You're an amazing Mom."

For once, all the weight lifted from her chest with a single breath. "Thanks, honeybear. Sorry I kept all of this from you."

Gru shrugged with a coy smirk. "Well, it's like they say, the foundation of any marriage is honesty. Nobody knows that more than me, huh?"

Lucy prepared to laugh at his eyebrow wiggle when something flashed before her eyes. Behind her husband, plastered across the large television screen, was a sudden news report. The picture made her heart catapult into her stomach. It was a picture of what she believed to be Gru, posing for a selfie as he held the diamond in his clutches. Obviously, the few strings of blond hair and eyebrows gave away it was Dru, but Lucy hadn't noticed whilst she sunk in a moment of complete betrayal.

Her voice quietened, although her frustrated tone lingered. "So...I should always be honest with you just like you always are with me?"

Gru nodded. "Exactly."

"That's funny," Lucy stated, before increasing the volume on the television.

Gru followed her trail of sight, his expression immediately dropping as soon as he saw it.

The anchorman on the television read from the paper in his hands, seemingly amused. "The 'not-so-bright' thief took to social media, posting an image of himself with the diamond. It seems that super-villain Gru has suddenly emerged from his hiding and returned to villainy with a failure."

Gru leaped from his seat, searching and pressing random buttons on the television. He could almost feel his heart explode from within his chest.

All of a sudden, the anchorman glanced from the camera to the picture. He stifled a laugh, before erupting into uncontrollable guffaws. "Can you believe that? Congratulations Gru, you're now the _worst_ villain on the planet. What an idiot, am I right?!"

Finally finding the right button, Gru switched off the television as soon as the news report switched to another story. He stared at the black screen, catching Lucy's distraught expression in the reflection. How could he explain this to her? If only his brother wasn't such a moron.

Gru turned to face Lucy, who seemed speechless, yet he knew that a thousand words were flaunting themselves around her mind. His first instinct was to explain himself, but instead he chuckled and rubbed his nape. "I just gotta...that wasn't what you think..."

But, as soon as Lucy rose from her seat, Gru reacted accordingly. She attempted to stride away from him, but he kept chasing after her.

"Wait, wait, Lucy!" Gru cried, catching her arm.

She snatched it away, however, mixed between rage and confusion. "I can't believe this. I...actually cannot figure this out."

Gru grasped her shoulders. "Honey, let me explain-"

"What is there to explain?" Lucy snapped, stepping away from him. "The fact that you're now a villain again, even worse, a _stupid_ one? I can't believe you actually posted a picture of yourself! Are you trying to show it off, or something?"

"That's not me, that's _Dru_!" Gru gestured to the screen as if the picture continued to haunt him.

"Quite a coincidence that he's got the diamond, though," Lucy crossed her arms, "the one that _Bratt _stole."

"Because...I..." Gru trailed off. Before he could even begin, the front door opened.

"Hey, guys!" Dru greeted with his shrill voice. "How's it all going?"

As soon as he shut the door, Dru froze in his stance. He glanced between Gru and Lucy, aware that he'd interrupted something important. However, when his brother sent him the worst glare he could imagine, Dru felt as if maybe he'd done something wrong. And he was right.

Gru charged after him, leaving little time for Dru to escape.

"Are you some kind of imbecile?!" Gru yelled, "What part of your stupid head made you think that posting a picture of yourself, bearing in mind that _nobody_ knows who _you_ are and _everybody_ knows who _I_ am, was a great idea?"

"But, I don't understand!" Dru threw his hands up into the air. "You told me yourself to steal it."

Gru cringed internally, knowing that Lucy still stood behind him. "I didn't say that."

Dru cocked his brow. "What about us becoming villains?"

A few seconds after, Dru slapped a palm across his mouth. He peered over Gru's shoulder, spotting Lucy, who appeared as if her heart had just been ripped from her chest. She shook her head and left the room, almost on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Gru buried his face within his palms, preventing his mind from punching Dru.

Frowning, Dru bowed his head. "I'm sorry, brother."

Clenching his jaw, Gru followed Lucy and muttered, "Just go away."

He strode through the hallway, checking each room for any sign of his wife. Until he reached the staircase, where Lucy had sat on the bottom stair. Her eyes glued to the floor; knees tucked into her chest.

He held her hand. "Sweetie, you have to believe me when I tell you that I'm _not_ a villain again."

Lucy scoffed, facing away from her husband. "You're gonna have to do better than that."

Checking down the hallway to spot any signs of Dru, he admitted, "I lied to Dru."

His words caught her attention. Although she continued to partially glare at him, Gru felt he had an advantage with her concentration.

Gru pursed his lips. "Yes, I told him that I'd teach him to be a villain, but that's a lie, too. I was only using him and my Dad's vehicle to get to Bratt's lair so I could get the diamond and our jobs back."

She stared at Gru, lips parted. Shocked. So...he lied to his brother for the welfare of their career?

Gru caressed her palm, his thumb grazing her wedding ring. "Please...I'd never go back to that life, not when I have you and the girls. I love you so much that I couldn't ever imagine living without you."

Lucy stared at Gru through shimmering eyes, not understanding whether the tears flowed because of the confusion or her husband's beautiful words. Soon, it agonised her to hold them back. She ducked her head so he wouldn't see, but Gru already cradled her within his arms.

"C'mere...I'm sorry," Gru hugged her tight, supporting her head against his shoulder. He squeezed his eyes shut, emotional over witnessing his gleeful wife so distressed.

Lucy shook her head against his shoulder. "No, _I'm_ sorry."

His heart continued to rip in half. "You have nothing to apologise for."

"I just jumped to the conclusion of something that's completely insane!" Lucy argued, before diving her face into her palms. "Gosh...I'm not just a terrible mother, I'm a terrible wife..."

"No, don't you _ever_ say that again!" Gru snapped, a little too loud. It caught Lucy's attention, however, as she stared back at her husband bewildered.

He restored the harmony between them as he declared, "You are the best wife anyone could ever have, and I'm not just saying that. You care about others before yourself, like when you told me the other day that I'm not a failure. When I'm with you, I'm either smiling, laughing, or thinking about how much I love you."

Lucy glanced upward, failing to prevent a small smile from spreading across her face. Her cheeks flushed, never growing bored of the constant affection that her husband offered.

"Tell me what's bothering you," Gru cupped her face, encouraging her to look at him. "I always tell you my problems, so don't bottle up yours."

Lucy sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I miss our job. It was one of the things that would distract me from these emotions, you know? Because my mind would be focused on saving everyone...avenging _them_..." Lucy negotiated eye-contact as she emphasised the last word, making sure that Gru understood that she referred to her parents.

He nodded, understanding. As her husband, Gru knew exactly why Lucy adored her job, which had primarily motivated him to fight against villainy alongside her. "That's why I'm going to get that diamond back, I promise."

Kissing her forehead, Gru suggested, "How about you go get the girls, start packing and meet me outside. When I get that diamond, we'll go home and get our jobs back."

Lucy nodded eagerly, causing Gru to mirror her expression. He noticed how her smile encouraged some colour back into her skin, motivating her to skip up the steps toward their room.

Therefore, he straightened his jacket and headed towards his father's villain lair. Hopefully Dru would understand his purpose - what would he need the diamond for, anyway?

Maybe his situation would work out effectively.

* * *

_*insert Gru and Dru argument and the remainder of the film immediately afterward*_

_I understand how alternate scenes in a film can be quite confusing, but that storyboard was everything that I could've asked for. Gru and Lucy discussing about parenting, and a tease about what could've been after that 'busted' scene. Let me know what you thought._


End file.
